Ronald Wilson Reagan

Speech at Omaha Beach, June 6, 1984

We stand today at a place of battle, one that 40 years ago saw and
felt the worst of war. Men bled and died here for a few feet of - or
inches of sand, as bullets and shellfire cut through their ranks. About
them, General Omar Bradley later said, "Every man who set foot on Omaha
Beach that day was a hero."

Some who survived the battle of June 6, 1944, are here today.
Others who hoped to return never did.

"Someday, Lis, I'll go back," said Private First Class Peter Robert
Zannata, of the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion, and first assault wave to
hit Omaha Beach. "I'll go back, and I'll see it all again. I'll see the
beach, the barricades, and the graves."

Those words of Private Zanatta come to us from his daughter, Lisa
Zanatta Henn, in a heart-rending story about the event her father spoke of
so often. "In his words, the Normandy invasion would change his life
forever," she said. She tells some of his stories of World War II but
says of her father, "the story to end all stories was D-Day."

"He made me feel the fear of being on the boat waiting to land. I
can smell the ocean and feel the sea sickness. I can see the looks on his
fellow soldiers' faces-the fear, the anguish, the uncertainty of what lay
ahead. And when they landed, I can feel the strength and courage of the
men who took those first steps through the tide to what must have surely
looked like instant death."

Private Zannata's daughter wrote to me, "I don't know how or why I
can feel this emptiness, this fear, or this determination, but I do.
Maybe it's the bond I had with my father. All I know is that it brings
tears to my eyes to think about my father as a 20-year old boy having to
face that beach."

The anniversary of D-Day was always special to her family. And
like all the families of those who went to war, she describes how she came
to realize her own father's survival was a miracle: "So many men died. I
know that my father watched many of his friends be killed. I know that he
must have died inside a little each time. But his explanation to me was,
`You did what you had to do, and you kept on going."

When men like Private Zannata and all our Allied forces stormed
the beaches of Normandy 40 years ago they came not as conquerors, but as
liberators. When these troops swept across the French countryside and
into the forests of Belgium and Luxembourg they came not to take, but to
return what had been wrongfully seized. When our forces marched into
Germany they came not to prey on a brave and defeated people, but to
nurture the seeds of democracy among those who yearned to bee free again.

We salute them today. But, Mr. President [Francois Mitterand of
France], we also salute those who, like yourself, were already engaging
the enemy inside your beloved country-the French Resistance. Your valiant
struggle for France did so much to cripple the enemy and spur the advance
of the armies of liberation. The French Forces of the Interior will
forever personify courage and national spirit. They will be a timeless
inspiration to all who are free and to all who would be free.

Today, in their memory, and for all who fought here, we celebrate
the triumph of democracy. We reaffirm the unity of democratic people who
fought a war and then joined with the vanquished in a firm resolve to keep
the peace.

From a terrible war we learned that unity made us invincible; now,
in peace, that same unity makes us secure. We sought to bring all
freedom-loving nations together in a community dedicated to the defense
and preservation of our sacred values. Our alliance, forged in the
crucible of war, tempered and shaped by the realities of the post-war
world, has succeeded. In Europe, the threat has been contained, the peace
has been kept.

Today, the living here assembled-officials, veterans, citizens-are
a tribute to what was achieved here 40 years ago. This land is secure.
We are free. These things are worth fighting and dying for.

Lisa Zannata Henn began her story by quoting her father, who
promised that he would return to Normandy. She ended with a promise to
her father, who died 8 years ago of cancer: "I'm going there, Dad, and
I'll see the beaches and the barricades and the monuments. I'll see the
graves, and I'll put flowers there just like you wanted to do. I'll never
forget what you went through, Dad, nor will I let any one else forget.
And, Dad, I'll always be proud."

Through the words of his loving daughter, who is here with us
today, a D-Day veteran has shown us the meaning of this day far better
than any President can. It is enough to say about Private Zannata and all
the men of honor and courage who fought beside him four decades ago: We
will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be
prepared, so we may always be free.